The Multicultural Greek Council may soon welcome a new member to their family. Sigma Beta Rho, a South Asian-based multicultural fraternity, held its first information session in Huntsman Hall on Wednesday.
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs recently approved their request to recruit members at Penn. Brothers from the fraternity’s Drexel University and Temple University chapters came to share their experiences.
According to its web site, Sigma Beta Rho was founded in 1996. It has since grown to become the largest South Asian-interest fraternity, with 17 chapters across the country.
Three of the eight founding members attended Penn. Sigma Beta Rho considers the University to be their “Alpha Chapter” although it has never had an official MGC chapter at Penn.
“To bring [Sigma Beta Rho] back to Penn would be a remarkable undertaking. It would be like a rebirth,” Engineering freshman Shant Teeshad said.
He added that he was interested in the sense of brotherhood and ideals that the fraternity promotes.
Teeshad first heard of Sigma Beta Rho from a friend at the University of Florida, after which he got in touch with the fraternity’s National Expansion Committee in hopes of starting a chapter at Penn.
“I like the ideals of the fraternity,” he said. “I didn’t really find in other fraternities what I find in Sigma Beta Rho.”
According to OFSA Director Scott Reikofski, multicultural Greek organizations can enable students to become “educators about their cultures.”
While the issue of self-segregation of subcultures at Penn is often debated, Reikofski added, “There needs to be a balance between relationships that help students to explore their own culture and [those that] encourage them to reach out.”
Wharton second-year MBA student Anix Vyas, who joined the fraternity at Pace University in 2001, said Sigma Beta Rho “fits a unique niche” but emphasized “you don’t have to be South Asian to join.”
“The diversity of our members gives you the chance to see things in a different way,” he added.
National Executive Vice President of Expansion Jino George attributed the close relationships between different chapters to the fact that Sigma Beta Rho is a young fraternity.
“We make it our goal to go out and meet other chapters,” he said. “That’s why I feel that our bond is bigger.”
“Brotherhood beyond all barriers,” College freshman Abhishek Patel said. “That slogan says it all.”
